Correlating near-room-temperature superconductivity with structure in high pressure LaH₁₀ using quantum sensors

Signatures of room temperature superconductivity were recently reported in LaSc₂H₂₄ at 260 GPa this year. The holy grail is to stabilize this chemical phase at ambient pressure. However, it is traditionally impossible to prove what crystal structure enables superconductivity, as samples are micron-sized and buried in the comparatively massive diamond-anvil pressure cell.  

We utilize in situ quantum sensors to image superconductivity in the parent binary superhydride LaH₁₀ (T_c=260 K, P=188 GPa) via submicron-resolved maps of the Meissner effect. We correlate these maps with micron-resolved images of structure, recently enabled by next-generation X-Ray synchrotron sources. We establish the structure responsible for lanthanum superhydride superconductivity, thereby unlocking the ability to ground megabar physics in the chemistry which produces it.